AB1396 MULTICENTER QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE EXPERIENCE OF USE OF BIOLOGIC AND TARGETED SYNTHETIC DISEASE-MODIFYING DRUGS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES. WHAT DO OUR PATIENTS THINK?
Authors: O. Rusinovich, M. Sanz, A. V. Esteban Vazquez, N. Molina Esteban, M. D. C. Uyaguari Morocho, M. Pavía Pascual, P. Navarro Palomo, M. Machattou, N. De la Torre Rubio, M. Fernandez Castro, H. Godoy, C. Barbadillo Mateos, C. Merino Argumánez, B. Garcia-Magallon, J. Sanz, C. Isasi Zaragoza, L. F. De Villa, T. I. Cobo, J. Campos Esteban, J. L. Andréu Sánchez
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background The development of targeted biologic (bDMARDs) and targeted synthetic disease-modifying drugs (tsDMARDS) has made a substantial change in the control of our patients, and has allowed an increasing number of patients to achieve clinical remission. Objectives To gain understanding of patients’ experiences of starting treatment with b/tsDMARDs, and explore their attitudes in order to improve the doctor-patient relationship, adherence to treatment, compliance, and knowledge about the experience of using b/tsDMARDs. Methods A qualitative study was carried out. A consecutive sample of 130 patients attended in the rheumatology units of four Madrid hospitals, from August 29th, 2021 to January 21st, 2022 completed a questionnaire that consisted of 31 questions, a subsequent qualitative analysis of discourse and content through focus groups with patients was carried out. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Chi-squared tests were applied to explore the dependency relationship between the different qualitative variables. Results One hundred and thirty questionnaires were collected (see general characteristics in the Table 1). Table 1. Baseline demographics. Sex, n (%) 96 female (73.85%), 34 male (26.15%) Age, years, mean (SD) 51,62±12.31 years Ethnicity/race, n(%) 74.6% White or Caucasian 22.3% Hispanic or Latino 2.3% Asiatic 0.8% Black or African American Diagnosis, (%) 42.4% rheumatoid arthritis 25.3% axial spondyloarthritis 10% psoriatic arthritis 6.9% connective tissue diseases 15.4 % other Time since diagnosis (years), mean (SD) 14,7 years (+/-11,43) Time since initiation of treatment with b/tsDMARDs (years), mean (SD) 5,84 years (+/-4,28) Most of the patients (68.46%) felt hope when they were informed that they were going to start treatment with b/tsDMARDs, 26.9% relief, 22.3% happiness and 27.7% fear and concern. 76% of the patients received information about why the treatment was modified, the advantages of b/tsDMARDs (60%), their mechanism of action (48.5%) and the precautions to be aware of (38.5 %). Fifty-two percent of the respondents searched for additional information on their own, with the most used sources being from internet search engines (34.2%), the corresponding drug insert (22.8%) and the page of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (23.7%). 60% of the respondents were informed about the possible risks associated with the treatment, 49.4% reported being more concerned when they contracted an infection. Most of the patients were recommended to receive influenza (81.5%) and pneumococcal (69.2%) vaccination, of which 74.6% and 54.6% received those respectively. A statistically significant dependence was observed between the recommendation of the vaccine and vaccination, since most (91,5%) of those who received the recommendation were vaccinated (p&lt;0.001). Most of the respondents kept their scheduled appointments (87.3%) and never forgot to take their medication (37.04%). 51% of the patients reported that with b/tsDMARDs they had experienced “considerable improvement”, 38.5% indicated that “their life has changed”, 10% reported little or no improvement. It was observed that men reported a maximum degree of improvement with a significantly higher frequency than women (77% vs 37% respectively), OR 5.79 (p &lt;0.009, IC 95% 1.42, 23.67). To the question “In which aspects have you noticed the greatest changes?” the respondents answered: reduction in outbreaks of the disease (67%), emotional improvement (38.6%) and regaining work activity (31.8%). Conclusion In our setting, education programs inform patients adequately, but it seems necessary to make a greater emphasis on therapeutic compliance, providing more safety information, and compliance to recommended vaccinations. References [1]Arkell P, et al. Patient experiences, attitudes and expectations towards receiving information about anti-TNF medication—“it could give me two heads and I’d still try it!” BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2013;10:165. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-14-165 Disclosure of Interests None declared